Suspension arrangement for clothes washing machine

ABSTRACT

The suspension arrangement for the clothes washing machine is defined by a plurality of suspension rods, each comprising a slim and flexible stem having an upper end coupled to a structural cabinet and a lower end coupled to a tank to be suspended inside the structural cabinet. The arrangement also provides for a plurality of radial rods, having an inner end coupled to a median side region of the tank, and an outer end coupled to a facing median region of a respective suspension rod so as to transmit to each respective suspension rod at least part of the radial displacement of the tank during machine operation, so as to cause a corresponding elastic deformation, by flexion, on the respective suspension rod.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a suspension arrangement for the tank containing washing liquid of a washing machine, particularly a vertical shaft, top-loader washing machine, in which the tank is suspended inside a structural cabinet of the machine, by suspension means, at least partially and elastically deformable, to dissipate vibratory energy resulting from the tank oscillation when the perforated basket is spun or of an agitator/thrust assembled inside the tank, to move a clothing load during washing and spinning operations performed by the machine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In washing machines of the type referred to above, washing operations of clothing loads contained in the basket are performed by spinning the basket on the horizontal shaft of front loading machines and by the turning of the agitator/thrust on the vertical shaft of top loading machines, wherein the turning of the basket or agitator/thrust is in a single direction when applied to the basket or in one and the other direction when applied to an agitator/thrust, at a certain speed, taking into account the movement required for the clothes and the washing liquid to obtain a desire washing efficiency, and also the wear and tear of the clothes in function of the movement to which it is submitted.

These machines also provide for a spinning operation to withdraw the water from the clothes, when the basket is turned at a generally higher rotation than that required of the basket or the agitator/thrust during washing operations.

In these known machines, the tank is suspended inside the structural cabinet by suspension means generally defined by metal rods, normally rigid, each being a single part or in two mutually-sequential articulated parts (as proposed in Brazilian patent application n°. PI0603245-1) in a total of four, each rod having an upper end coupled, generally by articulation, to an upper point of the structural cabinet and a lower end that supports, preferably by a spring or other elastically deformable element, generally compressed, a respective portion of the tank containing the washing liquid.

In these known suspension arrangements, the resulting energy from the masses (basket, washing liquid and clothes load), in movement inside the tank, when the machine is operated, is transmitted to the tank suspended inside the structural cabinet and also from the tank to the rods and to the respective elastically deformable elements, which should be designed so as to dissipate said energy, avoiding that it be transmitted to the structural cabinet at an intensity sufficient to make it vibrate and even move on the floor on which the machine stands.

Although widely used and still capable of dissipating a certain degree of vibratory energy generated by the masses in movement, reducing transfer thereof to the structural cabinet, these known suspension arrangements are not capable of providing the desired degree of dissipation of dynamic energy during operations, particularly spinning, with a certain clothes load irregularly or unevenly positioned inside the basket. In such situations, an undesirable portion of vibratory energy generated by the eccentric mass being turned is transmitted to the structural cabinet, making it, depending on the uneven load, vibrate at an intensity that may be sufficient to cause it to walk over the floor, even in the suspension rod construction formed in multiple sequentially-articulated rod extensions.

Besides the drawback referred to above, the suspension arrangements mentioned allow, under certain displacement conditions of clothing load in the basket, that the tank vibrates in such a way that it bangs into the cabinet, in view of its limited capacity to dissipate the vibratory energy generated. Any collision of the tank with the cabinet causes intensely loud noises and also subjects the machine components to damaging impacts that further contribute to dislodge the cabinet from its position.

Although the deficiencies commented upon above relate more intensely to vertical shaft washing machines, they are also found in horizontal shaft clothes washing machines using said suspension arrangements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the drawbacks and operational limitations of said known suspension arrangements, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a suspension arrangement that permits a substantial increase in its capacity to dissipate the vibratory energy produced by the eccentric masses in movement during machine operation, preventing said energy from being transmitted to the structural cabinet at an intensity sufficient to produce operational shocks between the tank and the structural cabinet and also the displacement of the latter over the floor (walking).

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a suspension arrangement as mentioned above that is simple to build and to apply to the suspension means, without requiring constructive changes to the tank and the machine's structural cabinet.

The arrangement now proposed is applied to a clothes washing machine of the type comprising: a structural cabinet; a plurality of suspension rods, each having an upper end coupled to the structural cabinet and a lower end; and a tank to house washing liquid and having a plurality of supports spaced apart, each of which is coupled to the lower end of a respective suspension rod, so as to suspend the tank inside the structural cabinet.

According to the invention, the suspension arrangement comprises: a plurality of suspension rods, each defined by a slim and flexible stem; and a plurality of radial rods, each having an inner end coupled to a median side region of the tank, and an outer end coupled to a facing median region of a respective suspension rod, said radial rods transmitting to each respective suspension rod at least part of the radial displacements of the tank during the machine's operation, so as to cause a corresponding elastic deformation, by flexion, on the respective suspension rod.

With the construction cited above, the vibrations and radial displacement of the tank, during machine operation, are transmitted, by the radial rods, to the respective suspension rods, causing deformations by flexion on the latter. Said deformations attenuate the vibrations and radial displacement, particularly during spinning phase.

The solution now proposed leads to a substantial increase in its capacity to absorb the vibratory (kinetic) energy principally during the spinning phase, preventing said energy from being transmitted to the structural cabinet, avoiding shocks between the tank and the structural cabinet and also the displacement of the latter over the floor (walking).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described, and references will be made to the drawings appended, given as an example of an embodiment of the invention, wherein:

FIG. 1 represents a simplified plan view of a clothes washing machine defined by a structural cabinet carrying, internally, a tank to contain washing liquid suspended by suspension rods built according to the state of the art;

FIG. 2 represents a perspective view of the tank illustrated in FIG. 1 and of the radial rods and suspension rods coupled thereto, the structural cabinet having been eliminated for improved visualization;

FIG. 3 represents a partially cut view of the machine illustrated in FIG. 1, said cut having been made in the direction of line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A represents a magnified detail of the median and upper parts of a suspension rod, coupled to the structural cabinet as illustrated in FIG. 3 and illustrating the respective radial rod; and

FIG. 3B represents a magnified detail of the lower part of FIG. 3, illustrating the coupling of a suspension rod to the liquid-containing washing tank;

FIG. 4 represents a perspective view of a possible construction for the radial rods;

FIG. 5 represents a side view of the radial rod illustrated in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 6 represents a cut view of the radial rod of FIGS. 4 and 5, said cut having been made according to the line VI-VI in FIG. 5, said view also illustrating the radial rod being coupled, by an end, to the liquid-containing washing tank and, at the other end, to a respective suspension rod.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As mentioned above and also illustrated in the drawings appended hereto, the invention refers to a clothes washing machine, preferably top loading, but also to a front loading, horizontal shaft washing machine, said machine comprising a basic structural cabinet 10, generally defined by a tubular-shaped body, generally polygonal in section and to stand on a floor (not illustrated). The structural cabinet 10 can be built in different ways using different materials, but preferably, takes on the shape of a tubular body comprising a surrounding rib 10 a, generally metal plates and, in the configuration illustrated, it is formed by portions of front, rear and opposed side walls.

The structural cabinet 10 incorporates, on top, generally next to the vertices of its polygonal transversal section, a horizontal rim 11, welded or otherwise fixed internally to the structural cabinet 10, next to the upper edge thereof, each horizontal rim 11 defining a support on which a respective suspension element is coupled (as described ahead).

In the sample construction illustrated in the drawings, each horizontal rim 11 of the structural cabinet 10 comprises a cradle 12, disposed medially and having the form of a semi-spherical recess and having a lower axial opening 13 that defines an axial passage through the metal plate constituting the respective horizontal rim 11.

The clothes washing machine in question also comprises, as already mentioned, a plurality of suspension rods 30, each comprising a single slim and flexible stem, generally metallic, having an upper end 30 a coupled, generally by articulation, to the structural cabinet 10, more specifically on a respective cradle 12 of a horizontal rim 11, and a lower end 30 b on which a respective elastically deformable element 40 is placed, as described in further detail ahead.

Inside the structural cabinet 10 is a suspended tank 50 to contain washing liquid and that is peripherally provided with a plurality of supports 51, angularly spaced apart and placed and fixed on the elastically deformable elements 40 of each suspension rod 30, so as to guarantee that the tank 50 is kept in a suspended position inside the structural cabinet 10.

The tank 50 can be built in different ways well known in the art and suitable such that, on the inside, a generally perforated basket (not illustrated) can be assembled, sized to contain a load of clothing and that is rotatively driven by a motor unit, also not illustrated, at least during a spinning phase of the machine, to expel the water contained in the load of clothing already submitted to a washing operation. The inside of the basket may also have an agitator/thrust (also not illustrated) which, when existent, is rotatively driven, in one and the other direction, at a certain speed, to agitate the washing liquid and the load of clothes inside the basket and thus perform the washing operations to be carried out by the machine.

In the illustrated construction, the suspension rods 30 are each defined by a metal stem that is sufficiently slim so it can flex transversally and medially, when subject, at least in part, to vibrations and radial displacement of the tank 50 during machine operation. However, the suspension rods 30 must have a resistance to traction suitable to the weight of the tank 50 and the other components aggregated thereto.

Also according to the illustrated construction, the upper end 30 a of each suspension rod 30 is curved in the shape of a hook and mounted around a semi-spherical cube 60, axially cast and that is placed on a respective cradle 12, also in the form of a semi-spherical recess, provided on the respective horizontal rim 11 of the cabinet 10.

The semi-spherical cubes 60 are preferably made of a suitable synthetic material, generally anti-friction, to be placed and threaded, in the form of a patella, on the inside of a respective cradle 12, avoiding any metal/metal contact between the suspension rods 30 and the structural cabinet 10 during machine operation. Each semi-spherical cube 60 is suitably constructed to accommodate, through an axial passage 61 of its body, the upper end 30 a of the suspension rod 30, this upper end 30 a generally being curved in a hook shape, as mentioned above, to be placed in a home 62 defined in the upper region of said semi-spherical cube 60.

However, it should be understood that other ways of fixing the upper end 30 a of the suspension rod 30 onto the respective semi-spherical cube 60 can be adopted. One other way, for example, would be to provide the upper end 30 a of the suspension rod 30 with means to receive and secure a removable backstop device to be placed on the respective semi-spherical cube 60.

Also according to the configuration illustrated, the tank 50 carries a plurality of supports 51, generally provided in its lower region and which project outwards from the tank body, so as to define, at the bottom, respective semi-spherical recesses 52, centrally cast by an axial passage 53 which extends through the support 51 and through which an adjacent lower portion of the suspension rod 30 it is disposed with leeway, having a lower end 30 b configured to axially retain a lower wedge 70 on which a respective elastically deformable element 40 is placed, generally tubular and disposed around said rod portion 32 and on which the semi-spherical recess 52 of the respective support 51 is placed.

With the constructive arrangement cited above, the tank is placed on the elastically deformable elements 40, generally defined by helicoidal springs 41, having a lower end 40 a placed on a respective lower wedge 70 and an upper end 40 b placed on an upper semi-spherical wedge 80, cast under the semi-spherical recess 52 of the respective support 51. The lower 70 and upper 80 wedges are also preferably made of synthetic material.

In the illustrated construction, the lower end 30 b of the suspension rod 30 is widened to retain therein a washer 43 on which the lower wedge 70 is placed, and the upper wedge 80 has an axial, central, tubular projection 81, through which the respective portion of the suspension rod projects, and the upper wedge 80 also incorporates, in a single part, an elongated tubular skirt 82 projecting downwards, so as to define a rib involving, with a radial leeway, the elastically deformable element 40 (helicoidal spring), said elongated tubular skirt 82 being extended to be peripherally placed around a basic portion of the lower wedge 70, keeping the region of each suspension rod 30, on which the elastically deformable element is mounted 40, protected from the outside environment, avoiding penetration by water and dust from the environment, and guaranteeing a suitable operation for said elastically deformable elements 40, for long periods of machine operation, with the assistance of certain lubricating elements not illustrated herein.

It should be understood that the assembly of the upper 30 a and lower 30 b ends of each suspension rod 30, in the structural cabinet 10 and in the tank 50, respectively, can be carried out in different ways, provided that they guarantee an elastically deformable suspension by the vertical oscillations of the combination suspended inside the structural cabinet 10, during machine operation.

According to the invention, radial rods 90 are provided, each having an inner end 91 coupled to a median side region of the tank 50 and an outer end 92 coupled to a facing median region of a respective suspension rod 30. The radial rods 90 can be made of wire, cable or strips of metal or synthetic material, extendible or non-extendible, in the form of spring or any other configuration capable of transmitting, to each respective suspension rod 30, at least part of the radial displacement of the tank 50 during machine operation, to cause corresponding elastic deformations, by flexion, in the respective suspension rod 30, which deformations absorb the kinetic energy of the movement of the tank 50, preventing it from being transmitted to the structural cabinet and acting as a brake on the movement of the tank 50.

The radial rods 90 can be built in the form of a relatively rigid stem, so as to transmit force between each respective suspension rod 30 and the tank 50 both under compression and under traction, allowing all radial movements of the tank 50 to be transmitted with greater or lesser intensity to the suspension rods 30, at opposites sides of the tank 50, increasing the transmission of kinetic energy of vibrations and radial displacements of the tank to the suspension rods 30, this energy being absorbed by the deformation itself, by flexion, of the said suspension rods 30.

However, it should be understood that the radial rods 90 can preferably be constructed in the form of flexible stems, wires or cables, capable of transmitting force to the respective suspension rods 30, only when submitted to traction. Another constructive possibility for the radial rods 90 is to make them in the form of springs or elastically deformable elements when submitted to traction or compression, allowing only part of the kinetic energy, produced by the radial movement of the tank 50, to be absorbed by a corresponding flexion of the respective suspension rod 30, and another part of said energy is absorbed by the very deformation of the radial rod 90.

Another constructive aspect to be considered refers to the way in which the inner 91 and outer 92 ends of each radial rod 90 are respectively coupled to the tank 50 and to the respective suspension rod 30. It should be understood that the way of coupling is irrelevant to the function for which said radial rods 90 are designed. However, it is important to consider the possibility that said couplings be made by additional fixing elements or by simple threaded eye bolts or hooks coupled to the respective parts to be joined together by the radial rods 90, as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3, 3A, 4, 5 and 6, which exemplify the use of radial rods 90 in the form of flexible stems and having their inner 91 and outer 92 ends configured in threaded eye bolts 91 a, 92 a to be mounted on the median side regions of the tank 51 and on the median region of the respective suspension rod 30, respectively, said radial rods transmitting force to the respective suspension rods 30, only when submitted to traction.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the threaded eye bolt 92 a of the outer end 92 of the radial rod 90 also carries, on its inside, a tubular glove 95, generally made of elastomer material and sized to involve, tightly fit, the median region of the suspension rod 30.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 6, each threaded eye bolt (91 a) of the inner end (91) of the radial rod (90) is articulated around a pin (96) threaded through two parallel ears, incorporated on the side of the tank (50).

Although only one arrangement of the present invention is illustrated herein, it should be understood that alterations can be made in form and arrangement in the different component parts of the suspension means without deviating from the constructive concept defined in the claims accompanying this present specification. 

1. Suspension arrangement for clothes washing machine of the type comprising: a structural cabinet; a plurality of suspension rods, each having an upper end coupled to the structural cabinet and a lower end; and a tank to house washing liquid and having a plurality of supports spaced apart, each of which is coupled to the lower end of a respective suspension rod, so as to suspend the tank inside the structural cabinet, said suspension arrangement characterized by comprising: a plurality of suspension rods, each defined by a slim and flexible stem; and a plurality of radial rods, each having an inner end coupled to a median side region of the tank, and an outer end coupled to a facing median region of a respective suspension rod, said radial rods transmitting to each respective suspension rod at least part of the radial displacements of the tank during the machine's operation, so as to cause a corresponding elastic deformation, by flexion, on the respective suspension rod.
 2. Suspension arrangement, according to claim 1, characterized in that each suspension rod is defined by a single stem.
 3. Suspension arrangement, according to either of claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the suspension rods are defined by a metal stem.
 4. Suspension arrangement, according to claim 3, characterized in that the upper end of each suspension rod takes on the form of a bearing hook in the structural cabinet.
 5. Suspension arrangement, according to any of the prior claims, characterized in that the radial rods are in the form of stems capable of transmitting to the respective suspension rod compression and traction force produced by the radial displacement of the tank during machine operation.
 6. Suspension arrangement, according to any of the prior claims, characterized in that the radial rods are in the form of flexible stems capable of transmitting to the respective suspension rod only traction force produced by the radial displacement of the tank during machine operation.
 7. Suspension arrangement, according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that each radial rod is in the form of a stem, having each of its inner and outer ends configured in a respective threaded eye bolt.
 8. Suspension arrangement, according to claim 7, characterized in that the threaded eye bolt of the outer end of the radial rod, carries, internally, a tubular glove involving, tightly fit, the median region of the respective suspension rod.
 9. Suspension arrangement, according to claim 7, characterized in that the threaded eye bolt of the inner end of the radial rod is articulated around a thread pin by two parallel ears, incorporated on the side of the tank.
 10. Suspension arrangement, according to claim 6, characterized in that the radial rods are in the form of flexible cables.
 11. Suspension arrangement, according to any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the radial rods are built of elastically deformable material when submitted to compression and traction force, so as to transmit to the respective support rods only part of the radial displacement of the tank during machine operation. 